HUMBOLDT — K.B. Criss resigned as superintendent of schools for USD 258, effective June 30, at Monday night’s school board meeting. IN OTHER news, board members approved:
Kay Bolt, current elementary and middle school principal, was picked by board members to succeed Criss beginning in July.
It is with “much and deep regret,” said board president Curt Mueller, that the body unanimously approved the resignation. “K.B., best wishes and gratitude for all that you’ve done for us.”
“You will be missed,” said board member Kyle Seufert.
Criss has been a well-respected part of the Humboldt school system for 14 years — as a principal, teacher, coach and athletic director — and has served the district as its superintendent since 2010.
“I’m excited about my next opportunity,” said Criss after Monday night’s meeting. “But at the same time, I’m sad, because I love this place. A lot of great people, a great board, great teachers. It’s a district that really cares about kids.”
Criss has accepted a position in another district in Kansas, but is waiting to announce the precise job and location until all of the details have been smoothed out.
He will remain in place until his contract ends mid-summer, and will — if previous months’ meetings are anything to go by — continue to argue in terse eloquence against the squeeze being put on the district by the current, anemic levels of state funding — arguments that he refreshed during his superintendent’s report Monday night.
After the evening’s meeting adjourned, Criss was the first to find Kay Bolt and shake her hand. Others in the room followed, offering their own congratulations.
“I’m excited, I really am,” said Bolt. “I actually haven’t said anything to anyone; my kids do not know, my parents do not know.”
Bolt said she would break the news to her colleagues today. “I want to have a face-to-face discussion with my teachers, because we are very much a family, and I want them to hear it from me, and not read it in an e-mail or get a text message. I will tell them first thing in the morning. They have no idea.”
Bolt has lived in Chanute and Pittsburg; she’s taught at Altoona-Midway, and been the principal at LaHarpe Elementary and at McKinley, in Iola; and has held her position as principal at Humboldt since 2002. Her deep knowledge of education in southeast Kansas, and her front row view on the administrative proceedings in Humboldt over the past decade, lend her some advantage in this abrupt succession.
“I already have some goals in mind for things I’d like to look at here. We’re going to sit down over the next couple of months and come up with a strategic plan for the next five years. And I will be working closely with [Criss] throughout his tenure here, so that the transition will be smooth.”
— The resignation of elementary school teacher Linda Rinehart, effective May 22. Rinehart was in attendance and, with quavering voice, stood before the board and reflected on her 19 years teaching in Humboldt, and thanked the district for its reliable goodwill during her tenure.
— The resignation of elementary teacher Matt Zubeck, effective at the end of the school year.
— The resignation of Brett Lisher as high school aid and assistant baseball coach, effective Feb. 13.
Criss resigns; Bolt takes reins
